Two Myntra-Jabong senior executives to exit by December

While Ananth Narayanan will continue to head Jabong, working closely with the teams on a daily basis, Manohar Kamath will take over an interim head of categories along with his current portfolio of Myntra Fashion Brands.Varsha Bansal | ET Bureau | October 16, 2018, 23:41 IST

Chief marketing officer of Myntra and head of JabongGunjan Soni, and Myntra’s chief strategy officer and head of categories Ananya Tripathi have decided to leave the organisation, according to an email circulated within the organisation by CEO of Myntra-Jabong Ananth Narayanan.

Both Soni and Tripathi will continue working till the end of this year.

“Gunjan has played a key role in firmly positioning the brand Myntra as the leading destination for fashion and lifestyle,” wrote Narayanan in the email. “Ananya has played a key role in strategy and made five successful acquisitions, including Jabong.”

Soni, who joined Myntra in 2015, is going to work at Singapore-based online fashion company Zalora as its CEO, said one of the sources aware of the development. Tripathi, on the other hand, will join global investment firm KKR as an operating partner, added the person cited above.

Myntra-Jabong confirmed the development about Soni and Tripathi moving out of the organisation.

“Ananya Tripathi and Gunjan Soni have decided to pursue opportunities outside the organisation,” said a Myntra-Jabong spokesperson.

While Narayanan will continue to head Jabong, working closely with the teams on a daily basis, Manohar Kamath will take over an interim head of categories along with his current portfolio of Myntra Fashion Brands.

Several industry members believe that there is a strong push by Walmart for the companies to consolidate and work towards profitability.

“We have been expecting a management change in all of Flipkart Group companies starting quarter 1 of next year,” said an analyst, requesting anonymity. “We understand that Walmart is looking to integrate these fashion platforms.”

Walmart recently transferred four of its senior leaders to Flipkart Group, including Walmart’s M&A head Emily McNeal who joins as senior vice president and group chief financial officer.

Meanwhile, Myntra earlier this year announced its aggressive offline foray by planning to launch 100 stores in the next two years while continuing to push their in-house brands.

The Flipkart-owned entity expects to end the current fiscal year at $1.9 billion gross merchandise value run rate, up from $1.2 billion for FY18, riding on the back of private labels and offline expansion.